Welcome back to this week’s Maison Cupcake Bumper Books Christmas Gift Guide served in SIX digestible parts.
No fluffy cupcakes today, today it’s proper serious bread and pastry in the spotlight.
Most of these titles below came out, or where re-issued during 2011, some I own, some I’ve gazed at in bookstores, all would make an ideal gift for someone.
Today I’m featuring rustic baking and also giving you a chance to win a copy of Pieminister.
Clockwise from top left:
For the dedicated baker
Dan Lepard’s new epic volume has a contradictory title, Short and Sweet being what I imagined was a reference to how he likes his pastry rather than the length of the book. In fact, the book was not originally intended to be this length, a pocket size reference book in the vein of Schott’s Miscellany was planned but things took another turn. Four years in the making, 500+ whopping pages and a surprising number of pictures (that Dan also took himself – he was previously a photographer), this really is a telephone directory of baking advice.
With prose in similar style to Nigel Slater, I was initially overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of this book, Dan gives detailed advice peppered with historical information and stuff like where the word “streusel” comes from. The sheer scale of what is in here makes it hard to say which recipes tempt me the most; on my to-do list are tapenade dinner rolls, cheese and black pepper buttons and Creme Fraiche Treacle Caramels. There are also some fun items like Weetabix muffins and Rocky Road Rock Cakes. Possibly if you study this book and do a “Julie and Julia” with it, there would be very little about baking you would not have learned. This book fulfils two criteria I like to find in my favourite cookery books; do I want to sit in bed reading it night after night and do I expect to use it in the kitchen for year after year? (yes and yes). Short and Sweet is published by Fourth Estate in hardback RRP £25.
For beyond the bread machine
Paul Hollywood’s 100 Great Breads has slipped onto our shelves quietly beneath the white noise created by The Great British Bake Off book and The Boy Who Bakes. Given Mr Hollywood’s high profile and ahem, appeal to ladies of a certain age, it’s astonishing the publisher put shock horror a loaf of bread on the cover rather than the silver fox himself (whom we see a bit, but not enough and often in black and white). I have made some wholesome and healthy apricot rye bread from the book which went down a treat with some Wensleydale cheese. 100 Great Breads is published by Cassel Illustrated in hardback RRP £12.99.
For whoever wants to eat all the pies
Pieminister are by now a familiar brand on supermarket shelves; who can forget the Will & Kate Royal Wedding Pie earlier this year? This book works through every pie filling imaginable season by season; how to make all types of pastry, using up left over bits and avoiding soggy bottoms. My favourite section is the autumn one featuring curry pies to tie in with Diwalhi and the recipe for rabbit, pork and black pudding roll. Pieminister: A Pie for all Seasons is published by Bantam Press RRP £17.99 in hardback.
For the time-short bread baker who doesn’t want to use a machine
Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois’ Five Minute Bread was all the rage amongst US foodie tweeters a couple of years ago and now we have our own edition in the UK. No bread machine, no kneading required. Apparently you make one massive batch of dough which gets more sourdough-like as the days pass and you can enjoy freshly baked rolls day after day using the same dough. My disappointment with this book is the lack of pictures, particularly as I’m fairly sure the US version had photos. A diverse range of breads including ciabatta, focaccia and baguettes all get the “five minute” treatment so if you know someone with enough space in their fridge to accommodate ten days’ worth of dough, this is just what they knead. Five Minute Bread: The revolutionary new baking method: no bread machine, no kneading! is published by Ebury Press in hardback RRP £14.99.
With thanks to Fourth Estate, Octopus, Bantam Press and Ebury Press for the review copies.
Come back next when Part Six of the Maison Cupcake Bumper Books Christmas Gift Guide will feature my personal choice of the best looking cookery books of the year and a chance to win an Interflora £60 Christmas Hamper.
Back to Part Four: For Foodie Families
Giveaway #30: Pieminister (two copies to be won)
HOW TO ENTER
- Complete the Rafflecopter form below to confirm your entries made via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook etc.
- This giveaway is set to run until Sunday 11th December 2011.
- Do read the rules below.
- Winners are announced on the Rafflecopter form after claiming prizes.
First timers: How Rafflecopter works (video clip)
- No form showing? Hit refresh and it should appear
- Complete the form – or your entries will not go into the draw
- Mandatory entries to be completed first; i.e. leave a blog comment
- Want more chances to win? Come back daily to confirm bonus entries via Twitter
- Viewing this by email? You need to click through to enter.
Good luck!
Prize sponsored by Pieminister
RULES:
1. Open to UK residents over the age of 18.
2. There are two prizes each of one copy of Pieminister by Tristan Hogg and Jon Simon.
3. Instructions form part of the terms and conditions.
4. No fibs: each winner’s tweet entries and subscriptions etc are cross checked, cheats will have ALL entries disqualified.
5. This giveaway is hosted on behalf of prize sponsor Bantam Press who will deliver the prize(s) following confirmation of winners’ contact details.
6. The prize sponsor’s decision is final and binding on entrants; no further correspondence will be entered into.
7. There is no cash or alternative to the prize stated.
8. The prize is selected in good faith, however the prize sponsor may substitute with one similar value/type if original one is unavailable.
9.Winners are picked by Rafflecopter using random.org and the site owner contacts them by the email.
10. Failure to claim prizes within 7 days will result in a replacement winner being chosen.
For another chance to win this book visit Fuss Free Flavours.
Come back next time when I’ll be giving away this scrumptious Interflora Christmas hamper worth £60.
Other Maison Cupcake giveaways to enter
carole says
excellent giveaway
Ashleigh says
steak pie is my favourite!
Maggie says
Chicken and leek.
Christina Connolly says
Cheese and potato!
Sarah Arnett says
Cheese and Onion
Dom says
I love any kind of pie filling but my fave has t be a creamy chicken and mushroom x
Mike says
Sweet apple pie!
Jane Willis says
Cheese and onion (although fish pie is my favourite – but being a mash-topped pie that might not count)
Claire Smith says
Steak and Kidney is my favourite!
Anna Ling says
I love steak and ale
claire woods says
Mushroom
bakingaddict says
Chicken and mushroom!
cory says
My favorite pie filling is lemon for lemon merengue
Lorraine Bishop says
Mushroom, leek & cheese
Aveen says
You can’t beat a good old-fashioned steak and ale pie. And the pastry should be under the pie as well as on top, otherwise it’s just a stew with a lid!
Choclette says
Mushroom, without a doubt.
Choclette says
Forgot to say, I think Short & Tweet is my favourite baking book ever – have made loads from it so far.
Fran Light says
My favourite savoury pie filling is chicken and mushroom.
My favourite sweet pie filling is apple 🙂
…. just thinking about pies has made me hungry – time to get my lunch!
Rhoda says
chicken and mushroom – mmmmm
Martina Pichova says
apple and blackberry
Mel (Sharky Oven Gloves) says
What a fantastic giveaway!
I love game pie, made with a mix of game – venison, rabbit, pheasant, etc. Yummy!
kim mayhead says
Steak and Mushroom !
riddlexic says
meat & potato
Erica Price says
Apple & mincemeat
Emily Hutchinson says
cheese and onion
Samantha Deakin says
Mmm… Pie
El Pasticcio says
Mushroom and chicken is my favorite!
Sian says
Brilliant give away :0)
helena haddock says
chicken and Mushroom
Laura Pritchard says
Beef & onions!
vicky haddock says
Chicken and Mushroom
Maya Russell says
My favourite is ham and chicken in a white sauce.
Greig spencer says
chicken and mushroom, mmmmmmmm
Eleanor Wigmore says
Steak and stilton! Yum
Judith Brown says
Raymond Blanc’s Tarte au Pomme is just gorgeous with chantilly cream, yum!
Kate Webster says
Steak and Ale, never ceases to warm and fill you up on a cold day
shelagh milne says
Steak and Kidney scrumptious
Sharon Moncrieff says
Minced beef and Onion is my fave!
Karen Railton says
steak and mushroom
Emma Howard says
Steak and ale
Vanessa Earle says
Cherry pie 🙂
Dave Glenister says
Chicken & ham!
Laura Carroll says
Cherry pie for a sweet pie is my absolute favourite!
If it must be a savoury pie (lol!) then it would be steak and kidney! Lovely with a plate of chips 🙂
Karen says
My favourite pie filling is cheese and onion
Gillian Holmes says
Chicken pie is best!
phyllis ellett says
Beef with Kidney
Dessiree Brown-Llaneza says
Cheese and Potato. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm
Jackie ONeill says
Steak pie
Boo Roo and Tigger Too says
Apple, raisins and cinnamon
Sheri Darby says
I love apple and cinnamon
Erin says
The classic Beef & Ale is my all time favourite